


the moon and stars were made for each other

by chrissy_odelia



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anxiety, Bisexual James Potter, Bisexual Lily Evans Potter, Bisexual Remus Lupin, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Sirius Black, James Potter Ships Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, LGBT, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Person of Color James Potter, Quidditch, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, Slow Burn, fuck j.k.rowling, lily and james swear...a lot, lily evans ships remus lupin/sirius black, peter and friends get zooted, they are all a little gay, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:27:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27397231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrissy_odelia/pseuds/chrissy_odelia
Summary: Remus is having a hard time and all Sirius want's is to help.A small part of a much longer Marauders fic in the works :)
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 12
Kudos: 61





	1. rings on wooden tables by the fire

Sirius lay, draped over the large maroon couch in the common room facing the fireplace, his arm resting over his eyes. It was a Friday night, so he was free to lay around like this and not have to worry about any assignments, not that he ever worried about those anyway. That was more of Moony's thing. As much as Sirius complained about Remus nagging him to do his work and wanting to look everything over for him, he always liked it when they would sit together late at night revising those stupid potions essays. It was time they got to spend together. Of course, he got plenty of time with Moony, them being best friends and living in the same room, but these moments always felt more special. Sitting hunched over their work, shoulders pressed together, laughing at some stupid joke that's only funny at one in the morning, their mostly empty mugs of tea (or hot chocolate in Remus' case) leaving stained rings on the light-colored wood of the table, the fire still going but getting dimmer by the minute, and everything else was quiet. It felt like they were the only two people in the world. Plus, James and Pete weren't up their asses like usual, ruining the moment, which was always nice. Not that you could call it that, a moment, because that would imply both people share those feelings, and well, Sirius was certain that Remus did not.

"Hey. Black. You awake?" The loud voice pierced through his thoughts, bringing him back to the real world.

Sirius pulled his arm away from his eyes, attempting to blink away the dark spots flicking across his vision. Marlene was leaning over the back of the couch, eyebrows raised in curiosity.

“You are! Great.”

“What if I hadn't been?” Sirius’ voice was scratchy from not using it. He cleared his throat a bit. “You would have just woken me up.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. You _were_ awake, so it doesn’t matter.” She slapped him lightly on the shoulder with a chuckle. Sirius stuck his tongue out in response.

He and Marlene always had a nice friendship. Lily would often joke they were the same person, and in some ways, like always, she was right. They both had shitty families (Sirius had it much worse, but Marlene didn’t need to know the full extent of that), they were both phenomenal beaters, they were both madly in love with their best friend (and apparently everyone knew but Remus and Dorcas), and they both had a weird pride thing when it came to being challenged. This never boded well, though, when it was the two of them against each other. They would each refuse to be the first to back down, and things would continue to escalate until someone else stepped in.

“What do you want, McKinnon?”

“Some Hufflepuff girls are having a party tonight, _lots_ of weed. You in?”

Although Sirius had a reputation for being a 'smoker bad boy’ after being seen many times leaning against the greenhouses with Remus doing exactly that, no one ever seemed to notice those were the _only_ times he did it. Remus was a total pothead and, honestly, would smoke anything you could roll into a joint. Sirius had just picked up on it from him. Night after night, staying awake with him while he smoked, talking through the nightmares or insomnia, eventually, he had said yes to the offer and hadn’t stopped saying yes since. He rarely smoked alone, never felt right. Then again, he _was_ Sirius Black, and Sirius Black was never one to turn down a party.

“Sounds fun. I’ll let the boys know when I see them.”

“I already told James and Peter. I just ran into them outside. Literally, I ran right into them. Knocked all of Peter's books right out of his hands. Anyways, they said they’re in, but James, and I quote, ‘refuses to touch any of that bloody stuff, it’s disgusting and irresponsible’ blah, blah, blah, you know, James.” She straightened up a bit while impersonating James, putting her hands on her hips and distorting her voice. “Says if he catches you with any, he’ll 'get out the flea shampoo', whatever that means.”

“Asshole” Sirius muttered, scratching at his head with the memory of the last time James had done exactly that. Not fun. When it came to the weed, though, he didn’t care all that much. Remus probably wouldn’t want to come anyway and would just end up studying with Lily most of the night or something like that. Now that he thought about it, _he_ probably shouldn’t stay too long either. Don’t want Remus to be _too_ responsible on a Friday night, now do we? Have to get him into a little trouble, even if it is just something small. Plus, a head start on a bit of homework wouldn’t be _too_ bad for either of them.

“Regardless,” Marlene continued, pulling Sirius out of his thoughts once again. “we can all walk over together from dinner.”

"Sounds good. See ya, McKinnon."

"Black." She winked, and with that, she ran off to continue spreading the news of the party.

Sirius happily returned to daydreaming, now watching the portrait hole open and close. Observing the busy rush of people in and out. First-years leaving to get an early start on eating, some older girls coming back from a club, a group of third-years headed to the quidditch pitch for some late practice, a rather large group of fifth-year boys headed to the library to get in some more studying for O.W.L’s, two other sixth-years who appeared to be returning from a date. Eventually, they all blurred together in his mind as his thoughts continued to wander. After a little while, though, a person broke through his filter. The one he had been on the lookout for, even if it was only subconsciously. The tall, much too skinny boy (Sirius was reminded, yet again, he needed to make sure that boy was eating more. He looked like he was drowning in that sweater) with a canvas bag full of books, stepped his way into the common room.

Remus.

Sirius couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face, the same one that always did whenever Remus walked into a room. Just his energy in the same room was like magnets that connected the corners of Sirius’ mouth to his ears.

“Hey, Moony!” The werewolf turned his head a bit to look at the boy lounging on the couch, smiling widely up at him. He didn’t smile back, though. Sirius’ face fell as he took in the boy in front of him. His cheeks and nose were a bit more red than normal, and he was twitching his fingers just a bit underneath the sleeves of his sweater. To anyone else, this would have been overlooked, probably not even noticed. But Sirius had learned to read every little movement that Remus made and what they all meant. Partially from the hours he spent staring at him any chance he could get, but partially because he had trained himself to do just that so he wouldn’t be caught off guard. He would have time to react before the other person even had a chance to do anything.

“What’s wrong?” Sirius had begun to prop himself up a bit more on the couch, so his back was leaning against the armrest when Remus started to walk toward him. For a moment, he just stood there.

“Rem?”

The nickname Sirius, and only Sirius, was allowed to call him.

Remus blinked, almost frozen in place for a moment. Then he fell into Sirius’ arms.

Without needing to think, instinct took over, and Sirius wrapped himself around the boy who was now laying on his chest and pulled him closer.

Suddenly, Remus started to cry.

They were silent tears at first, but his whole body shook violently like something was ripping him apart from the inside out. With his right hand, Sirius began to run his fingers through Remus’ hair in a way that always seemed to calm the werewolf when he was upset. After moons or panic attacks or even just when he got too stressed with tests, having his hair played with always seemed to help. The two were similar in that way. So he just played with his cute, loose curls or drew shapes on his scalp lightly with his fingernail. Every once in a while, he would whisper something in Remus' ear.

_Hey, hey._

_I’ve got you._

_Shh._

_You’re going to be okay._

_You’re safe._

They lay like that for a while, both of Remus’ arms wrapped around Sirius, head resting where his shoulder and chest connected. Sirius resting one hand in the boy’s hair while the other arm was wrapped around his waist, holding him as close as he possibly could.

Eventually, Remus’ sobs slowed to a stop, and he began taking uneven, gasping breaths.

“Slow breathing okay?” Sirius whispered, “Just focus on that, in and out.”

He slowed his own breathing down until Remus was able to match it, and their chests rose and fell in unison.

“Can you talk?”

“Yeah” His voice was shaky and sounded sore like it would break at any moment.

“Do you want some water?” Sirius asked this instead of the burning question at the tip of his tongue. This wasn't the time.

He shook his head in response, burying his face deeper into Sirius’ chest.

“Okay,” Sirius lifted his left hand and lightly wiped some of the tears off of the side of Remus’ face he could reach, rubbing his thumb repeatedly across his cheek and the thin scar that ran over his nose.

His breath became even slower, and the muscles in his face relaxed at the touch.

"Rem?"

No response.

He was asleep.

Eventually, Sirius allowed his own eyes to close and, like Remus, let sleep silence his busy mind.


	2. sweet mint shampoo

Remus woke to hushed voices surrounding him. He hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep. He took a deep, slow breath in an attempt to wake himself up a bit more. As he did, a mixture of smells filled his head. Sweet minty shampoo, worn leather, something posh and strangely French, and most of all, dog, in the best possible way a dog can smell. 

Sirius. 

That’s when he remembered where he was. Lying on the chest of Sirius Black.

_SIRIUS FUCKING BLACK._

His first thought was to immediately sit up, get off of him, and apologize for breaking down on the other boy. Then maybe die of embarrassment in a dark hole somewhere. But before he could do anything of the sort, he heard the voices again. Sirius and Lily. From the absence of background noise, he figured they were the only ones still in the room. His curiosity won over the embarrassment. Remus was careful to stay still, not wanting to alert either that he was awake. He just lay there and listened, head buried in the crook of Padfoot’s neck.

“I thought we had another week and a half until the next moon. Is he sick, or is my calendar wrong?” Lily. They were talking about him.

“Neither,” Remus could feel the slight vibrations of air moving through Sirius’ chest as he spoke. “He came in about an hour ago acting strange, then practically fell over onto me and started crying. He fell asleep pretty quickly after that.”

“Shit, really? Do you know what happened?” 

Sirius began to lightly scratch Remus’ scalp absentmindedly, moving his finger in small circles slowly getting bigger and bigger. It sent a tingly feeling down Remus’ spine that almost made him shiver.

“No clue. Everything seemed fine last time I saw him, and I didn’t want to ask the moment he could speak again. I don’t want to push him, especially right now, when whatever is wrong is so fresh. He’ll come to me when he’s ready. For now, all I need to do is make sure he knows I’m here to support him.” A bright smile tugged at the sides of his mouth that he had to fight off with everything in him. Merlin, he loved that idiot.

“You’re a good friend Sirius.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

There was a pause. They were having another one of those silent conversations they were both so fond of when Remus or one of the other Marauders was having a hard time.

Sirius took a deep breath. “Tell Marles and the boys I won’t make it tonight but to have fun, alright?”

“Are you sure? I can stay if you’d like. I’m sure James and Peter would too. We’re all here to support Moony.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. You guys go, have fun. I’ve got him. He wouldn’t want a ton of attention about this anyway.”

“Okay. If either of you needs anything at all, just come down and find me, alright?” 

She began to step away from the couch.

“Alright, love you Lils.”

“Love you both too.”

Remus waited until he could hear the portrait slide closed before he lifted his head to look at Sirius.

Sirius turned quickly, startled by the sudden movement.

“You didn’t have to do that. You should go.” His voice was, somehow, even worse than it had been before.

Sirius’ eyebrows scrunched together at the sound of his voice. Without answering him, he reached his hand into his own bag for his wand, summoning a glass of water from their room, the one that always sat on Sirius’ bedside with the small chip on the side. He nodded his head for Remus to sit up a bit. Having given up on fighting Sirius a long time ago, he pushed himself up, sitting half on Sirius’ lap, and took the glass. 

The cool water ran down his throat, instantly making it feel much better. He also felt quite a bit less like he was going to pass out from dehydration. Always a good sign.

Once he had downed the whole glass, Sirius propped himself up on his elbows and looked up a Remus.

“Feel better?” He cocked his eyebrow in such a classic, Sirius ‘I told you so’ kind of way. Even though he  _ technically  _ hadn’t told him anything.

Remus rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

“Well, your voice sounds less like shit, so I think I’ve gotten my answer.” He winked.

_ Damn that wink. _

Remus looked away, trying to hide the blush that had crept over his face. “What’s the time?”

“‘Bout nine.”

Remus sighed. Padfoot had already missed dinner at this point, and it was all his fault. Missing a huge party that even  _ Lily Evans  _ was attending felt selfish.

“I meant it when I-” Remus was cut off by Sirius’ hand on his jaw, gently turning his face back, so their eyes met again. He reached up and wiped off the residual moisture from crying that was still on Remus’ face. His hands were softer than most people would think for someone who is always doing something with their hands. Painting, writing, playing quidditch, etc. Remus, of course, already knew this from being healed up by Sirius every month after he left the hospital wing, but it was nice to be reminded. He leaned into the soft touch.

“What were you saying?” He was still running his fingers over Remus’ face, not meeting his eye, instead choosing to look at his cheek.

“Um,” It took a moment for him to remember what he was even planning on saying, still focused on the beautiful boy in front of him. They were so close together now. “Oh, yes. I want you to be able to go to that party. It’s not fair of me to ask-”

He was cut off once again.

Sirius stopped wiping his face, his hand freezing in its place on his jawline, and met the werewolf’s eyes. 

“Don’t even Remus. I’m not playing this game with you tonight. You didn’t ask me to stay. I made that decision by myself. I’m going to be much happier just sitting here with you, Rem, then at some stupid party. Everyone is probably blazed out of their minds and barely able to form a coherent sentence anyway. I choose to be here. I  _ want  _ to be here. Okay?” 

Remus swallowed. The animagus’ silver eyes were piercing into his own. They were beautiful, probably the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, but they could be terrifying. Like a thunderstorm, beautiful and magical most of the time but could induce great fear in just a second. Sirius Black as a whole was quite like a thunderstorm. Remus could remember clearly, times when the boy’s eyes had hardened and become cold. His anger would practically radiate from them and send a chill down your whole body. Luckily this wasn’t one of those times. If anything, quite the opposite. Although they were forceful of his point, his eyes were warm and full of caring. He was genuine. He wanted to stay.

“Okay.” Remus’ voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

“Good,” Padfoot smiled so widely Remus couldn’t help but return it. “Alright, come on.” 

He slowly pulled his hand away from Remus’ raw and stood up in front of the couch, grabbing both of their bags and swinging them over a shoulder. The other hand, he held out for Remus.

“Where are we going?”

“Dinner, Moons. Dinner.” 


	3. pjs and blazers

Sirius dragged Remus by the hand up the flights of stairs that lead to the dormitories and pulled him into the room belonging to them. He threw their bags at the foot of his own bed and gave Remus a quick spin as if they were dancing. Remus just laughed and shook his head at the other boy. Sirius would never get tired of hearing that laugh.

“As much as I love our room Pads, I don’t recall us having a kitchen up here.”

“Oh, dear Moony.” Sirius proceeded to make his voice sound as posh as possible. “How you misunderstand, we aren’t  _ eating  _ up here. We do have to change for dinner, don’t we?”

Remus rolled his eyes so hard, Sirius feared he might get them permanently stuck.

“God, you’re obnoxious.”

“You love it.”

Remus slowly detangled his hand from Sirius’, still chuckling slightly, and started towards the bathroom to wash the remains of crying from his face. Sirius watched him go, already missing the feeling of their hands clasped together.

_ Get it together, Sirius. Merlin. _

He shook his head, attempting to clear his thoughts of the other boy, and began to rummage through his trunk for something to wear. He decided on one of the old band shirts Remus had given him, a pair of black jeans, and a black blazer. The blazer was one of the few things he kept around from his days at Grimmauld Place. Too many good memories at Hogwarts associated with it for him to burn it as he had done with most everything else from his family. 

Remus stepped out of the bathroom, and his eyes immediately widened at the sight of his companion, leaning against one of the posts at the bottom of his bed.

“Alright, Sirius,” He sighed. “what do you expect me to wear then?”

“No need to worry, I’ve got you covered Moons,” Sirius pointed to a stack of clothes he had left on the edge of Remus’ bed.

He watched Remus make his way over to the clothes, a skeptical look on his face.

“My sweater, I remember how familiar smells comfort you, and your plaid pajama pants cause, once again, comfort is important, and those big fluffy socks you like.”

“No way, Sirius. No way, you look ready to go out to some classy event and expect me to look like I just crawled out of bed?”

_ Shit. _

Sirius hadn’t even thought about that. He had just wanted Remus to be happy, and he figured, comfy clothes plus Sirius in his ‘ _these would be my date clothes,_ _but we aren’t on a date, unless you want to be? But we haven’t talked about that really, and I’m sure you don’t share my feelings’_ outfit would equate to happiness.

“We can’t all be as fancy as me, now can we Remus?”

_ Wow, Sirius, good going. That’s exactly what to say here. Being annoying is always going to go well. _

He just raised an eyebrow giving Sirius another skeptical look.

“Fine, fine!” Sirius threw up his hands in the air, being extra dramatic. Well, extra dramatic for a normal person. For Sirius Black, it was the typical amount of drama. “I’ll wear my pajama pants too if it will make you happy, but I’m keeping the blazer!”

Remus laughed again, throwing his head back just a bit. All signs of the breakdown he had just experienced were gone. Sirius felt something warm flutter inside of his stomach. He had done that.

“You’re going to look ridiculous. I hope you know that.”

Sirius just lazily saluted at him with two fingers and winked, a wide smile spreading across his face. He didn’t care. It was making Remus forget about whatever had been hurting him, and that’s all that was important. 

Once they had both changed, Sirius grabbed Remus’ hand once again and pulled him out of their dorm. They dashed through the common room and into the hallways. As they got farther away from the tower, they began to speed up until they were running. They ran past empty classrooms, through passageways, up and down staircases, laughter escaping their tired lungs and filling the vast silence of the castle. 

That warm, fluttery feeling returned in Sirius' stomach, but this time spread its way through his whole body. It moved up his spine, into his head, and through his lungs, making his breathing rate increase even more. It moved down his arms and fingers, leaving them feeling numb and tingly but alive all the same. It shot quickly through his legs. He was almost certain that if he had jumped, he would have just hovered there in mid-air like he was on a broom flying through the sky. Sirius closed his eyes, just for a second, letting the moment wash over him. He wanted to remember everything about this.

Then he almost broke his neck. 

Remus had abruptly stopped running and pulled on Sirius’ arm. His legs continued to run forward, but his torso was pulled back, causing him to slip and fall backward, limbs flailing about. Luckily, Remus grabbed his waist from the side, catching him just in time before he hit the ground. Sirius’ eyes shot back open.

“Remus! What the fu-”

Remus clasped a hand over Sirius' mouth and looked around frantically. Before Sirius could tug Remus’ hand off of his mouth and say anything else, the werewolf pulled him into a nearby classroom and quickly shut the door behind them. He pressed them against the door and used the hand that wasn’t covering Sirius' mouth to cover his own, forcing his eyes shut. That's when Sirius finally heard it, the quiet clicking of keys banging against each other. 

Filch.

Although most people couldn’t hear the sound of Filch’s keys until it was too late to hide, Remus and Sirius both were lucky enough to have heightened hearing abilities due to their...well, let’s call them moonlight excursions. Plus, the two had trained themselves to pick up on the sound from night after night, working on the map and sneaking around the corridors.

Sirius froze, trying to make as little sound as possible. Remus did the same, both trying to silence their panting breaths and pounding hearts. They waited silently as the sound of the keys became louder. Eventually, they could hear the man's footsteps walk up to the door. Remus became tenser as Filch approached, tightening his whole body and, in turn, pulling Sirius closer, so their chests were pushed against one another. Sirius closed his eyes too. They listened carefully, waiting for all noise to be completely gone. Eventually, the sounds faded away, and there was just the returned silence of the castle, undisturbed by two laughing teen boys or a grumpy caretaker. 

Sirius opened his eyes just in time to see Remus’ eyes flutter open, silently communicating with the shorter boy standing against him. 

_ Do you think he’s gone? _

_ Should be, I can’t hear him anymore, can you? _

_ No, nothing. _

Even then, they refused to move for a few moments, just to make sure he was really gone. That was definitely the reason. The reason wasn’t that Sirius couldn’t bring himself to pull away, now realizing how close the two really were. No. Never. It’s not like he realized that if Moony had removed his hands from each of their mouths, he would be able to feel Remus’ breath against his face. Nope. And he wasn’t thinking at all about how if that had happened, all Sirius would have to do, is lean forward an inch or two, and they would be kissing. Definitely not. They stayed that way purely for safety reasons, nothing else.

“I think it’s safe,” Remus whispered, finally pulling his hands away from both his own and Sirius’ mouth. 

Sirius took a step back, freeing Remus from being squashed against the door as well as preventing himself from doing something stupid. They both stood catching their breaths, Sirius running a hand through his hair. He then removed his blazer, allowing his upper body to cool down a bit, hoping not to be completely drenched in sweat by the end of the night. He lazily swung it over his shoulder and leaned against a table stationed near him in the room. When he looked back over at the other boy, he was smiling. Sirius smiled back, and suddenly they were laughing again, a much quieter and tired laugh than before, but laughing all the same. 

Remus leaned his head back against the door, exposing his entire neck. Sirius watched as the silky moonlight, coming through a large arched window behind him, lit two of his silver scars. One twisted around from the back of his neck, near the base of his hair, and around to the bottom, stopping a bit before his collarbone. The other ran down the right side of his throat, starting at the corner of his jaw and stopping about halfway down. As he moved slightly, so did the light bouncing off of the scars, shifting their appearance just slightly, making both them and the werewolf they adorned appear to be glowing. It was a shame Moony hated the moonlight so much. He always looked the most beautiful in it.

“Okay Sirius,” He started, pushing himself off of the door. Sirius quickly looked away, hoping Remus hadn’t noticed his obvious staring. “Let’s go...wherever you’re taking me.”

“Let’s.” Sirius pushed himself away from his table, the same way Remus had done, and began to walk towards him “But no running this time? I don’t think I can risk falling again. I almost cracked my skull open last time.”

“Sure Pads” Remus chuckled and pulled the door open, beginning to walk through it. At the last second, before leaving, he turned his head back around to look at the animagus. “I’d be there to catch you though, don’t worry.”

_ Merlin. _


	4. fancy surprise outing

Finally, they had arrived at Sirius’ planned destination.

“The kitchens?” Remus raised an eyebrow at the smiling boy in front of him. “And you made this sound like some fancy, surprise outing. Was the blazer even necessary?!” He said the last thing with as much melodrama as he could.

Sirius just rolled his eyes and grabbed Remus’ hand for the third time that night, pulling him through the doorway. Not that Remus minded, he rather liked holding Sirius’ hand. He would find excuses as often as possible to do just that and was quite glad for not having to make these excuses tonight.

As they walked through the large entryway, the thirty or-so house-elves turned to look at the two, rather disheveled, boys.

“Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin!” One of the more familiar-looking elves began, walking towards them and waving for the others to return to their work. “Nice to see you both. How may we assist you tonight?”

“Hello Helena,” Sirius smiled down at her. Helena was used to the Marauders barging in late at night asking for snacks to help them stay up later or left-overs from meals they had missed setting up pranks. She was especially fond of Sirius since he would often come down during Remus’ recoveries when he couldn’t attend meals and would always be extra friendly. “Nice to see you as well. Now you see, my dear Moony and I may have fallen asleep studying and missed dinner, is there any chance you would whip us up a small picnic so that we don’t go to bed hungry?”

He put on his best puppy dog eyes to try and convince her. Sirius was also quite the charming liar, always had been. One of the few things still ingrained in him from childhood, like his swirly, perfect handwriting. Things that came with being the heir to the House of Black, no matter how little he wanted the position. It sometimes left Remus wondering if he had ever been manipulated by Sirius’ lies when they were younger before Remus could read his Padfoot like a book. Then again, he never lied to Remus now, so why would he have lied to him then? He shook the thought from his mind, slightly angry with himself for thinking of Sirius as a Black and not as a Marauder. It happened much less than when they first met, but sometimes it slipped away from him, always leaving Remus with an intense feeling of guilt. 

_ He’s not his family.  _

_ Not at all. _

“Moons?”

_ Shit. Sirius was talking to you, you idiot, and you just stood there. Now he’ll know something’s up. Shit, shit, shit. _

Remus turned his head to the right, towards Sirius, who had a slightly concerned look on his face. 

“Sorry, got lost in thought. What did you say?”

“Hey, you alright?” Sirius ignored his question. His eyebrows were squished together, just a tad, leaving small wrinkle lines between them.

He always did that when he was focusing or worried. Without thinking, Remus reached up and smoothed them out with his thumb.

_ WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING REMUS?! _

He quickly pulled his hand away, realizing what he had done.

“Sorry,” He mumbled, looking down quickly at the yellowed-white tiles underneath his feet. 

Sirius squeezed his hand, making the werewolf look back up at him. He just smiled softly, pulling Remus into a hug. His arms wrapped around the taller boy’s waist. Remus leaned into the touch, pulling his own arms around Padfoot’s neck, pressing his face into the dark, wavy hair that always smelled like mint.

“You never need to apologize to me, Rem. For anything.” His voice was muffled by Remus’ shoulder pressing against his mouth.

“Promise?” He whispered the little joke they both shared into the shorter boy’s hair. Except it wasn’t really a joke. It had started off that way but quickly became something they always said to comfort the other. Before fulls, tests, leaving for the summer, through nightmares and panic attacks, everything. And they always kept their promises to one another.

“ _ Pinky _ promise, Moons.” He whispered the appropriate reply back. Remus squeezed him a little tighter as if to solidify it somehow.

“Ahem,” Helena’s squeaky voice appeared at their side again. They pulled apart quickly at the arrival of the house-elf, and Remus tried to hide his blush for the second time that night. “Here you boys are. Enjoy the rest of your night.”

Remus smiled down at her as Sirius took the large basket she was holding. “Thank you, Helena, have a wonderful night.”

“You as well Mr. Lupin. Goodnight Mr. Black.”

“Night!” They chorused cheerfully as they left the kitchens. Right before opening the door though, Sirius stopped and reached one hand out towards Remus holding up his pinky finger.

"Come on. It's tradition."

Remus smiled, reaching his own hand up and snaking his own pinky around the other, never breaking away from the grey-blue eyes.

Once their hands broke apart, Sirius spun around, almost dropping the basket, and pushed the door open for Remus.

Remus began to walk back in the direction of the tower until he heard Sirius' loud voice behind him. He had turned a corner in the other direction.

“Oi, Moony! Come on! This way.”

“What? Sirius, the tower is that way. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head on that fall?”

“Oh, hardy-har. What a comedian Moons, really.” He just flashed a lopsided smile at the other boy. “I promised you a, what did you call it? Oh! A ‘fancy surprise outing’ and that I shall provide. Now come on!”

He dragged the last word out in a sort of whine and jumped up and down a bit in excitement when Remus finally started in his direction again.

_ Wow, he really is a dog. _

They rushed through more hallways until they finally reached the large, arched doorway by the great hall that led out behind the school.

“Sirius, what are you doing? If we get caught, this is going to be a month's detention. At least.” Remus pulled lightly on the shoulder of his companion, not enough to make him fall, but just enough to make Sirius turn to look at him.

He smiled his trademark mischief smile. “Oh, Moony, stop worrying. That’s only if we get caught.” With that, he pushed the doors open and was pulling Remus by the hand, once again, towards a mystery destination. After exiting the building, though, it quickly became clear where they were headed.

“Sirius, no!” Remus begged but made no effort to pull away. “Come on, don’t be stupid. There is no way someone won’t see us.”

Padfoot just ignored him and continued towards the quidditch pitch. 

He was pulled through the doors near the bottom and up through the series of benches and staircases until they finally stopped at the commentator's platform. 

“Sirius really, you’re such an idiot. You’re going to get us caught, and for what? Why are we even up here?”

“Would you just shut your pretty mouth for one second and look?” 

Remus obeyed with a sigh and looked out at the area surrounding him. 

The platform was a three-meter by three-meter square and was near the top of the pitch, so the commentator could see everything that was going on in the game. Remus was up here often, given he  _ was  _ the commentator, but never at night. Something about being up there at that time felt wrong, but he quickly realized it was in the best sort of way. Unnatural but beautiful all the same. If he turned a bit, he could see most of the castle. There were soft lights coming from scattered windows, giving the whole castle a glowy effect. On his other side, he could faintly see the scenery and hills of the area surrounding the massive castle, but it was blurred from the fog as well as the darkness blanketing over it all. He could really see everything from up there. Hagrid’s hut, the greenhouses, into the forbidden forest, the outskirts of Hogsmeade and the Shack, the lake, the tree all of the Marauders lounged under when they had time off from classes, everything. It was beautiful. Even more so, shrouded in the ethereal beauty of the night, only slightly lit by candles and lamps scattered across the grounds.

“Wow,” He hadn’t meant to say it, and it was only a whisper escaping from his lips.

“See?” Remus turned and saw the slightly smug and lopsided smile the animagus was displaying. “So, was it worth it Mr. ‘we’re going to get caught, stop being such an idiot Sirius’?”

Remus just looked back out across the pitch and leaned against one of the railings.

“You suck at impressions, Pads.”

He received a light shove on the shoulder in response. Sirius walked a bit closer and leaned on the railing in the same way so that their shoulders were pressed together. It reminded Remus of the nights they spent studying in the common room. Sirius always looked so beautiful in the firelight, with all the shadows dancing across his pale, aristocratic features.

Ignoring the little voice in the back of his head telling him not to, Remus leaned his head on the other boy’s shoulder. Quickly, Padfoot leaned his own head down to rest on top of Remus’. 

That’s where they stayed, leaning on each other, staring out into the night.


	5. pine(ing) and vanilla

_Merlin, I’m brilliant. Brilliant!_

James walked in step with Lily down the long, dimly lit corridors. Peter, Marlene, Dorcas, and a few Hufflepuffs were a few feet behind them, all absolutely blazed and giggling, trying their best to stay quiet. Trying being the keyword here.

_James Potter, you’ve done it again, you brilliant bastard! Convincing Lily to come and babysit with you while your children of friends go to get more weed? A stroke of genius! She sees how responsible you are, whilst also spending time with you and seeing you are a good guy! Just stay chill, and everything will work out. Chill, James, chill._

“Alright, come on, you idiots.” He pushed the door to the greenhouses open and held it for his bumbling friends and the beautiful ginger leading them.

“Get what you need quickly so we can walk back, okay? I don’t want anyone hearing us. It’s going to be hard explaining away the weed, never mind how you’re all high as kites.” Lily had a slight laugh in her voice, but everyone knew she meant it.

The greenhouse was filled to the brim with a wide variety of plants stretching across the tables, floors, and ceilings, ranging in sizes as well as magical (and a few non-magical, such as the weed they had come for) properties. As the baked group of teens stumbled their way through the large glass shed, James walked over to one of the large, open windows, and Lily slowly followed him, leaning a bit on the sill and looking out at the grounds in front of them. James, instead, just stared at the girl next to him. He watched the way her hair framed her face and moved around a bit in the wind that came through the window. He watched her long eyelashes flutter over her bright green eyes. He stared at the small freckles lining her nose and upper cheeks. They were faint this time of year but always popped out a bit more in the summer when she spent more and more time laying out under the tree by the lake reading, something he also often watched her do. He noticed her brows furrow a bit as she leaned forward to get a better look at something outside, examining it with the same detail he had seen her look at diagrams for potions with.

“James?”

“Yeah?” His voice sounded dreamy and tired, his head still full to the brim with thoughts of Lily and her beauty.

“Is that Sirius?” This finally snapped him out of his trance.

“What? Where?”

She pointed out of the window. He followed her finger to the quidditch pitch, about three hundred meters in front of them. He squinted his eyes and, after a moment of searching, saw what looked like someone standing on the commentator stand. From the angle and distance, it was almost impossible to tell who it was.

“No way. You said Remus was upset right? He would never leave him alone like that. Must be someone else. Plus, Sirius is much skinnier than whoever that is.”

“No, but James,” She pointed again towards the figure on the stands. “Look at the way he’s standing. He's leaning over and has his right leg tucked a bit behind his left. That's how he stands when he’s leaning over the table, being all _flirty_ with Remus while we’re trying to study. Bloody annoying that one is, but that's not the point. I'm _sure_ that's him.”

Once again, James was astounded by the girl he had been pining after for so long. Sirius was his _brother_ , and even _he_ hadn’t thought that deeply about how he stood.

“Okay, but he wouldn’t leave Moony, Lils. It just wouldn’t happen. You said it yourself, you know how they are.”

“Fine,” She grabbed James by his wrist and began to pull him away from the greenhouse through one of the doors that would deposit them into the grounds.

“What? Where are we going?”

“You don’t believe me? Let's go up to the astronomy tower and take a look then.” James just blinked for a moment, not knowing what to do, still being pulled along by Lily’s tight grasp on his wrist, making his dark tan skin look an almost paper-ish color in the place her own, pale and freckled hand, was gripping onto it.

“Fine. Let’s go!” He began to walk a bit faster. With purpose and now a known destination, her death grip loosened a bit as he moved up to be walking next to her, his own long strides falling in with her smaller ones.

They moved along the side of the castle in the direction of the pitch, making their way to the astronomy tower only a short distance from the greenhouse. They walked to the base of the tower, attached to the school, and Lily quickly unlocked the doors (prefect privilege, knowing just the right spells for each type of school lock, just in case) and led James through the spiral staircase to the top of the tower. Once they reached the top, James could feel the cool, sweet breeze against his face even more than down on the ground. The air smelled like pine from the woods, with a hint of vanilla from Evans’ perfume. He had always loved that smell.

Lily finally released his wrist and walked over to one of the many telescopes lining the circular room, adjusting it to face the pitch. Without looking in to check for herself, she turned to James, pointing her head at it, wanting him to look first. James pushed his glasses up a bit more on his nose and leaned down to see through the eyepiece. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but as the image became clearer, he saw who it was.

Sirius _and_ Remus.

They were both leaning against the railing of the commentator's platform, Remus with his head resting on Sirius' shoulder and Sirius holding one of Remus’ hands in both of his, tracing shapes on the back of it or running his fingers across the small scars there, something he had noticed Sirius often liked to do. Sirius was standing exactly the way Lily had described, his right leg crossing behind his left. As he looked closer at the area around them, he could make out a folded blanket and basket of some sort behind them.

“It’s him,” James started, lifting his head to look at his companion. He pushed his glasses up his nose once again.

“I knew it!” She pumped the air just a bit, a wide smile breaking across her face.

_She’s gorgeous._

He shook his head, remembering his own side of the bet.

“Hold on, don’t get _too_ cocky Evans. I was right too, he’s not alone. Remus went with him. I told you he would never leave him.”

“Remus? What?” She lightly pushed James out of the way and looked in the telescope for herself. After a moment, she looked back up at James.

“That’s sweet, I’m glad they’re out there together.”

“Me too, I mean we’ve been trying to set them up for, how long now, almost nine months? And they’ve been in love with each other _way_ longer. About time they got closer to admitting their feelings. Lily, you’re so lucky. You don’t have to deal with all the constant tension between the two of them. I mean, Merlin, always flirting and then looking away blushing, pretending it was a joke, and the ‘platonic cuddling’, platonic my ass. Oh, and the worst part? How much Padfoot whines, Lily. He’s a fucking dog in every way possible way, that one. I’m serious.”

“He’s Sirius, actually.” She interrupted.

“I’m not in the mood for your cheek, Evans” Merlin, he sounded just like his own mother. Maybe Sirius was right about him being the ‘mum friend’. “Anyway, he just sits there and whines all the time with his ‘Oh James did you see Moony today? He looked so beautiful’ or ‘James, why won’t Remus love me back? We would be so perfect together!’ and then the moment I suggest he do something about it, all I hear is ‘I’m not good enough for him. He’s perfect, and what am I? Some gay idiot with a fucked up family who can’t do anything right’ I mean, it’s endless Lily. _Endless._ Why won’t he just realize that he’s perfect the way he is, and Remus loves him, and UGH I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE EVANS IT’S KILLING ME!” By the end of this rant, he was leaning dramatically against the telescope, face in his hands.

“Oh, don’t even get me started Potter, Remus is a nightmare too.” James looked up at Lily, curiously, nodding for her to continue. She leaned a bit on her end of the massive contraption to be closer to eye-level with him. “It’s hard enough to get studying done when Sirius is constantly distracting him, but the moment he leaves, all I hear is ‘Sirius this’ and ‘Padfoot that’ and ‘Lily he takes such good care of me, I’ve never had anyone treat me the way he does before!’ or ‘He’s so gorgeous, everything about him is perfect I could just kiss him all day.’ and then, of course, the self-depreciation of ‘But he’ll never love me, I’m just an ugly monster he pities. I don’t deserve love. I’ll never be good enough for him, blah blah blah.’ It. Never. ENDS! They just need to kiss, and everything will be better. If only they weren’t so _damn_ oblivious all the time.”

“Agreed!” James laughed at Lily’s little matching outburst, and she returned it with a soft smile. After a moment, he broke the silence.

“What are they up to now? Maybe they’ll start snogging soon and our troubles will be over.”

“Knowing them I doubt it, but I’ll check” She leaned down again towards the eyepiece, and James lifted himself off of the telescope, moving to stand next to her. “It looks like they are sitting down now, leaning against the railings still, eating some food from the basket. I can’t tell what it is, but they’re laughing about something.”

“I wish we could hear what they were talking about.”

Lily looked up at him with a devious smile.

“Who says we can’t?”


	6. hugging potted plants

The next thing James knew, he and Lily were sitting side by side on one of the ledges sticking off of the astronomy tower. Lily had managed two rather difficult spells to make their spying a bit easier. First, Amplificandi Potentia, which had allowed her to magnify the image of the telescope, so it was hovering like a television ( _that’s what those boxes with the people in them that muggles watch are called, right?_ ) in front of them. Second, she cast Auditus Recta, which allowed Sirius and Remus’ conversation to be amplified so that the two of them could hear it from their perch, but no one else could. James would have been even more impressed if this wasn’t _Lily Evans_ , the smartest fucking girl he had ever laid eyes on.

“Alright,” She extended the last syllable of the word as she moved her wand in one last motion, fully concentrated on her work. “There! We should be able to hear them now.”

James waited for a moment, and finally, his two best friend's voices grew to full clarity.

_“Do you remember the last time we were out here?” Remus turned his head towards the boy next to him as he placed his water cup back on the ground from taking a sip._

_“Um, two weeks ago, right? The last game before my birthday.”_

_“Yeah, you almost lost it for us.”_

_“_ _What?! Did not!”_

“Wow, great works Evans!” James turned to face her, a wide smile spreading across his cheeks.

“Thanks, not too difficult if you know the right spell.” Her cheeks were flushed a bit pink as she looked back at him, her green eyes piercing into his own hazel ones.

_She must be cold, with all the wind whipping her face and making it all red._

“Oh, hold on.” James quickly pulled his own wand out and cast a quick heating spell around the two teenagers sitting on the edge of the tower.

“Oh, thanks.” She smiled up at him again, her cheeks still a bit pink.

He felt like he could look at her forever and still find new things to love.

After a moment, though, he realized he had been staring and clearing his throat, looking away from her and towards the floating image of his fellow Marauders.

_“No way, Remus, you **must** have seen Perry push me! He almost knocked me off! You’re the bloody commentator! How did you miss it?” _

_“That’s what I’m saying, Pads, I **didn’t** miss it. It didn’t happen. You just lost your balance and can’t admit to having made a mistake apparently.” Remus’ words were a bit garbled, having taken a bite of something right before he had started speaking. _

_“Oh, shove it, Moony.”_

_“Me shove it? Why don’t you shove it, baby!”_

_“Aw, terms of endearment Moons, how sweet. Under any other circumstances, I would think you were flirting with me.”_

_Remus just chuckled and lightly threw a roll of bread at the other boy’s chest._

_“You know what I meant. You’re **being** a baby.” _

_“Am not.”_

_The pouty lip said otherwise._

“That’s good,” James’ voice was quiet, even though he knew there was no chance they could hear him. “Flirting is good.”

“And annoying.” Lily’s voice was equally quiet, mirroring his example.

James chuckled.

_“Sirius, I’m sorry, but you can’t admit when you’re wrong. It’s okay though, we all still love you. It’s just a part of who you are.” The sass was practically oozing from every bit of Remus’ voice, just trying to egg Sirius on._

_“I **can** admit to being wrong!”_

_"Really?"_

_"Really, really."_

_“Fine, admit James was actually right about that whole, giant squid vs. thestral ‘who would win in a fight?’ debate the two of you had the other day.”_

_“Now, see, I **would** Remus,” Sirius shifted his seating position, so instead of being shoulder to shoulder with the werewolf, he was facing him, allowing them to look one another in the eye. “But you know James. If he ever found out, he wouldn’t shut up about it. Oh, and he’d do that awful ‘I’m James, and I was right!’ dance he always does.” _

_Remus burst out laughing, spitting out the water he had just taken a sip of all over Sirius' face._

“The ‘I’m James, and I was right!’ dance?” Lily giggled beside him.

“Shut up!” He playfully bumped her on the shoulder with his own.

“No, no. I think it’s cute.” James could practically feel his heart stop, his whole brain blank, his entire soul malfunctioning inside his body.

_Lily Evans just called you cute James. LILY EVANS. AND SHE WASN’T BEING SARCASTIC! Oh wait, or was she?_

Before he had a chance to ask, though, Lily was pulling at his sleeve and pointing to the screen again.

“James, look!”

James reluctantly looked back at the screen, trying to get his brain and heart to both re-start as quickly as possible.

_Remus had his hand resting on Sirius’ cheek, laughing while attempting to wipe away some of the water._

_“I hate you.”_

_“Oh come on, it’s hilarious.”_

_“It doesn’t **feel** hilarious, Moons. It feels wet.” _

_Remus laughed again, leaning closer to Sirius and trying to wipe more of the water off his cheeks. As they got closer, his laugh faded out slowly. They were both staring at one another, just inches away._

"Oh my god, it's gonna happen," Lily whispered, fixated on the screen.

"No, Lily, look." James knew his fellow Marauder too well and pointed to Sirius' hands.

_From behind his back, Sirius was reaching his hand out for his own water. His long fingers with the painted black nails slowly wrapping around the glass._

“No, no,” Lily was leaning forward as if to try and stop Sirius before he could ruin the moment. “Come on Sirius. Don’t do it.”

“Remus, just kiss him already before he sprays you!” James said a bit louder than he would have wanted.

He quickly clapped his hand over his mouth, but, as expected, nothing happened. They were much too far away.

_“Remus,” Sirius’ voice was just a whisper._

_“Sirius?” Remus matched Sirius._

_His voice remained at the same volume and tone. “Suck it, asshole.”_

_“Wha-”_

_In a blur, Sirius leaned back quickly and threw his own glass of water into the other boy’s face._

_“WHAT THE FUCK SIRIUS?!”_

“NO!” James and Lily both shouted at the screen, not caring anymore if the other Marauders heard.

“Damn it!” Lily pounded her fist on the stone underneath them.

“And the fucking moron has the audacity to complain that they aren’t together yet.”

By the time they had both cursed a bit and cooled down from their frustration enough to look back, an all-out food fight had started.

_Sirius grabbed a handful of something from a container, and the little pieces fell all over Remus, getting stuck in his hair and under his shirt. He laughed loudly before scooting away._

_“You’re not funny Sirius!” Remus catapulted something orange and creamy at the other boy using a spoon, but just missed him by a few inches. “Now, we’re both wet!”_

_“So it’s funny when it happens to me, but when **I** do it, it’s 'Oh, you're not funny Sirius!'?” _

_A second spoonful of mush flew at Sirius, this time hitting him right in the middle of his forehead, sliding down his nose until he shook it off._

_“You still suck at impressions.”_

_“Oh, that’s it.”_

_Sirius launched himself at Remus, knocking him onto his back, and began tickling up the sides of his body, lifting his jumper a bit to get access to his ribcage._

_“Ah! Stop it!” He could barely speak in between the fits of giggles._

_“Ready to apologize?” Sirius stopped for a brief moment, to allow the other boy to speak, which was his biggest mistake._

_Catching him off guard, Remus looped his own leg around Sirius’ knee and used all of his body weight to flip them over, so he was now kneeling over the animagus._

_“Not gonna happen.”_

_Sirius didn’t move or even blink, still in shock from his defeat._

_Remus laughed, reaching above Sirius’ head and grabbed a handful of the same mushy food from before, spreading it all over his face. Sirius, finally processing what happened, tried to squirm away from Remus, attempting to cover his face with an arm. The werewolf just sat on his chest and pinned down his arms to the best of his ability._

_“Are **you** ready to apologize?!” _

_“Mmmahhhphleh!” Sirius tried to spit out some of the food covering his mouth._

_Remus grabbed another handful, this time getting it all over his forehead and hair._

_“What was that? I can’t seem to understand you?”_

_“Fine! Fine! I’m sorry!”_

_“For what?” Remus smirked, grabbing his third handful, holding it threateningly above Sirius’ face._

_“For spraying you with water, for throwing things at you, for stealing some of your chocolate the other day, for-”_

_“THAT WAS YOU?!” Remus dropped the mush he was holding right on Sirius’ nose. “I KNEW I WASN’T CRAZY! I HAD FIFTEEN WHOLE BARS AND 6 SQUARES ON WEDNESDAY AND WOKE UP WITH FIFTEEN BARS AND 2 SQUARES! YOU GIT!”_

_“I still think you’re crazy,” He was shaking his head like a dog, still trying to get the food off his face. “I mean, you count each individual square, Rem. Only insane people do that.”_

_“Oh, shut up!”_

_Remus lifted Sirius’ shirt and started tickling him the same way Padfoot had done._

_Sirius sounded like a little girl, his voice suddenly becoming high pitched with giggles and shrieks._

_“Stop it!” He managed to get out before erupting into a fit of giggles again, still flailing around in an attempt to escape the werewolf’s grasp. Eventually, he managed to release one of his arms. He quickly reached up and grabbed a handful of Remus’ jumper, pulling down and forcing his body weight on top of his hands, so he was unable to continue tickling the animagus._

_Their faces were now only inches apart once again, and they had both stopped laughing. They were just sitting, totally still, staring at one another. Moments passed, and everything seemed to freeze. They both refused to move even a bit, seeming to be afraid of what would happen if they did._

_After what felt like an eternity, Sirius finally did something._

_“Do you, ahem, do you know why I wanted to come here?” His voice was breaking and no louder than a whisper._

_“Why?”_

_“Because I...um.”_

"Tell him." Lily's voice was only a whisper.

"You've got this, Pads." James was leaning so far forward he wouldn't have been surprised if he had fallen right through the screen.

_“Sirius?”_

_“I...um" He paused. "I...I wanted to teach you quidditch!” Sirius practically shouted into Remus’ face, letting go of his jumper._

_Remus only blinked at first but then quickly turned a bright shade of red and stood up._

_“Oh, um, you don’t have to do that. Really, it’s fine. We can just head back if you’d like.”_

_“No, no, I don’t mind. It should be fun.” Sirius stood up as well, turning away from Remus, grimacing and mouthing something to himself that looked close to 'Quidditch?! What’s wrong with me?!'._

_They quickly packed up their things, both trying hard not to look the other in the eye, before finally walking down the steps of the platform to the pitch._

“What...the fuck...did we just watch?” Lily still hadn’t turned away from the screen, just staring at it, as if waiting for something to change, for it to say this was all a joke.

Nothing happened.

“THOSE GODDAMN IDIOTS!” James stood up, throwing his hands in the air and screaming, not caring if anyone heard. “I’M GOING TO PITCH MYSELF OFF THIS TOWER! I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! MAYBE GO TRY AND DROWN MYSELF IN THE SHOWERS OR SOMETHING! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM?! AAAHHHHH!”

It felt good to finally be able to scream away his frustration for his friend's situation.

“How…?” Lily’s voice was still quiet, and she hadn’t moved, as if in shock. “How do they not know...? How don’t they realize…?”

“I don’t know.” James walked back over to Lily, standing next to her, confused by her calm demeanor.

“They...he…” “Lils?” He placed a hand on her shoulder.

She turned her head slowly to look James in the eye.

“THIS FUCKING MORON HAS TWO CHANCES TO KISS THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE, AND HE BLOWS THEM BOTH?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM?!”

James practically jumped in the air at her sudden outburst. She forcefully stood up the same way he had done only moments earlier and began to pace as she screamed, her red hair almost matching the same shade her face had turned. James pressed himself against the wall in fear. No matter how much he flirted with her and acted all suave, he was still terrified of Lily Evans.

In reality, who isn't at least a little afraid of her?

“OH, AND REMUS WITH HIS TICKLING?! STOP FOCUSING ON COVERING HIM WITH FOOD AND JUST SNOG HIM ALREADY! DEAR LORD! I MEAN THE AMOUNT OF TENSION BETWEEN THOSE TWO, THAT WAS LIKE WATCHING A MOVIE! AND THEY THINK THEY’RE ‘JUST FRIENDS’?! ‘JUST FRIENDS’ MY FUCKING ASS YOU WANKERS!” By the end, she was shouting at the screen and gesturing at it aggressively, even though the images of their friends were long gone.

James waited a moment before speaking, not wanting to be on the receiving end of any residual anger she hadn't burned off yet. She seemed to be mostly done, just breathing heavily, her face resting in her hands.

“You know, if Pete were here, he probably would have pulled all his hair out by now. I swear those two are going to make him bald before he turns eighteen.”

Lily turned back to James, now the calm one of the two, and after a moment of silence burst out laughing.

Her laughter was probably the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He began to smile, and it quickly turned into laughter too, both of them buckled over and clutching their stomachs. James’ cheeks and jaw began to burn from smiling, but he didn’t care.

He laughed and laughed until his thoughts finally set into place, like puzzle pieces. The laughter cut out, his face suddenly falling.

Lily noticed this and looked up at him, her eyebrows beginning to knit together in concern.

“Shit, Lily…” James could see the moment her thoughts came together as well, her face changing with the realization.

“Peter…” Her voice was a shocked whisper. “James, we left them alone. WE LEFT OUR HIGH AS BALLS FRIENDS ALONE IN A GREENHOUSE FULL OF WEED AND MAGICAL PLANTS!”

“FUCK!”

They both began sprinting down the stairway, Lily ending both spells with a flick of her wand behind her. They ran through the long grass in the dark, cold wind whipped at their faces and started to burn their cheeks. Lily began to fall behind James as they got closer, not having the same stamina as him, coming from years of playing quidditch. He tried to slow down to wait for her, but she just yelled for him to hurry and get there as fast as possible. She would catch up.

He did as told and tried to push himself to go even faster, his feet digging into the dirt as he ran. When he finally reached the glass door, he practically ripped it off its hinges, throwing it open with such speed and force. He stumbled into the greenhouse, whipping his head around to try and find his friends. His eyes finally caught them, and he almost burst out laughing again.

The six teens were all curled up in a heap on the floor, sound asleep.

Peter was lying on his side hugging, what appeared to be, a small potted plant close to his chest. The three Hufflepuffs he didn’t know were leaning against one another, propped up by the wall behind them, one drooling onto another's shoulder and the third laughing a bit in their sleep. Lastly, Marlene and Dorcas were cuddled up together on the floor, arms around each other, and foreheads pressed together gently. Those two were almost as perfect for each other as Remus and Sirius, and almost as naive.

Lily finally burst in the door behind him, looking frantic and hyperventilating.

“Hey, Lils,” James put his hands on her shoulders calmingly. “Breathe, okay? Everything’s fine.”

She took a few deep breaths, moving her eyes up to look at him.

“They didn’t die?”

James chuckled, pulling Lily close with one arm, in a sort-of side hug. Something he had seen his Dad do with his Mum when she got panic-y many times growing up.

“They’re fine. Look.” With his free hand, he pointed to the sleeping mass of teenagers.

Lily’s eyes fell on their friends, and she sighed, leaning more into James and moving her head to rest on the side of his upper arm (the highest place on him she could rest her head, given their large height difference), and was finally able to calm down. James just pulled her in tighter, rubbing his thumb up and down her arm reassuringly.

They really looked like the parents he had wanted to be, standing together, arms around each other, and laughing lightly at their crazy, sleeping children.


End file.
